Facebook accuses it of willfully violating emergency services in Australia

Facebook has deliberately implemented an overzealous blocking system that removed. Its Australian emergency services page as a negotiating tactic last year, the whistleblower said.

The social network blocked all news agencies in Australia because of a dispute over the payment of news providers. But fire services and public health services have also been blocked during Australia’s fire season and vaccine release.

Facebook says blocking other sites is an honest mistake.

The former Whistleblower Aid-backed official said the company was deliberately “blocking” Australian websites at a critical time to gain influence with the Australian government.

“It is clear that we are not complying with the law, but it is a blow to civic agencies and emergency services in Australia. An official working on the project said in a statement to Australian and US authorities first published by The Wall Street. Diary.

“rough” algorithm

The considerable controversy started in February last year when lawmakers just voted on a major bill. That would force social media to pay news organizations for the content they use on their platforms. The day after the first vote, Facebook removed all news sites in Australia – and many unrelated to the news.

Within days, the government reached a deal with the tech giant and lifted the ban.

The whistleblowers provided to the Wall Street Journal reported that instead of using a long-standing database of news organizations. The company developed a new “raw” algorithm that flags each page shared as a news provider.

It is also claimed that internal planning documents indicate the removal was pre-planned to be completed. Before the bug complaint process – something the complainant said was not a normal process.

Officials have raised concerns about internal communications, the documents show – concerned about the “damage done to Facebook’s reputation” and urged a “proactive” solution.

In response to another post about team member concerns, the product manager wrote, “Guidance from the Policy and Legal team should be comprehensive and concise as we receive more information.”